


take a chance, make a change (and breakaway)

by zkyriaco



Series: break away (suite life on deck but gay) [1]
Category: Suite Life on Deck
Genre: Bi Bailey Pickett, Coming Out, F/F, Gen, MtF Cody Martin, Trans Character, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:06:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23563513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zkyriaco/pseuds/zkyriaco
Summary: On the night of his play performance, Cody makes two important realizations.  Fortunately, Bailey’s here for both of them.
Relationships: Cody Martin/Bailey Pickett
Series: break away (suite life on deck but gay) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1701970
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	take a chance, make a change (and breakaway)

**Author's Note:**

> Three years without a post, she comes back with quarantine. So I binge-watched Suite Life On Deck and decided Cody actually was a girl. Title from “Breakaway” by Kelly Clarkson. Thanks for reading and I’m sorry.
> 
> Also: I am cisgender, so if you think I didn’t write the trans experience correctly, please let me know!

All it takes is a weirdly dramatic play (that was, technically, assigned), twenty bucks to Miss Tutweiller, and specific casting that allowed for a missing female role, and Cody was wearing a dress again. A pink one, nonetheless! He’d been missing the feelings dresses gave him, the breeze, the freedom, the just being right. For Cody, dresses were the perfect Goldilocks scenario. Unfortunately, his friends already thought he was too feminine, with his germaphobia, low muscle density, and high-pitched screams. If he started wearing dresses for anything other than the most desperate situation, they might think something was seriously wrong.

There was only one catch. Well, two actually, but Cody hadn’t fully anticipated the second one. The first was how awkward it would be to pretend to be in love with his brother. However, Zack was a horrible actor, so it was nowhere near as uncomfortable as it could’ve been with a good actor. The second catch was Bailey. Cody had clearly underestimated how much his play would hurt her, especially with the “shake my bonbons” and death scenes. The bonbon scene was just an excuse for Cody to preten--well, it didn’t matter, and there was still the death scene, which could only be excused by the unrelenting depression he had been in when he wrote the play originally.

But now, Cody was sitting with Zack after the audience had evacuated, and he was realizing several things. Only one of these he shared with his brother, however.

“I think I made a big mistake tonight,” Cody sighed.

“Yeah, you don’t have the curves to pull off that dress,” his brother quipped. And that was when Cody finally put it together. No, she didn’t have the curves to pull off the dress. But maybe… she wanted them.

As Cody made this realization, she was also realizing how much Bailey meant to her, and how important it was that Bailey knew it. This was the only part she shared with Zack, before running off to find Bailey and apologize.

  
  


Unfortunately, Bailey didn’t want to listen to Cody’s apologies. She didn’t even let her finish the sentence before slamming the door in her face. However, Cody was determined. There was a reason the two had dated, and part of it was how equally stubborn they were.

So, Cody knocked again. And when Bailey didn’t respond, she texted London to ask for a key before starting a monologue.

“Bailey? Listen, I know you’re really mad at me, and I deserve that. But I’ve made some realizations tonight, and I’d really like to talk about them? Preferably to you and not a door?” 

Bailey scoffed from inside her room. “Yeah, I bet you really want to talk about how much of a slut I am and how good you look in my dress!” The outburst was followed by a quickly muffled sob.

“Please, Bailey, just let me in… Wait, you thought I looked good in it?” Cody blushed slightly, then shook her head, remembering why she was here. “If you won’t open the door, London’s bringing her key up.”

A sigh came from the room, and then the door was finally pulled open. Well, slightly open. “We can talk through the opening, but I’m not letting you in. This is my space.”

Cody chuckled. That was the girl she fell in love with, alright. She sat down on the floor and prepared herself. “Well, clearly that was the worst play ever.”

Bailey let out a short huff of breath and a small smile. “Even worse than  _ South Pacific _ ?”

“Well…”

Bailey glared through the small crack.

“Yes. Even worse than  _ South Pacific _ . At least  _ South Pacific _ isn’t a thinly veiled way of getting back at someone who had no part in the break up.”

“At least  _ South Pacific _ doesn’t have an actor playing the moon and singing “Shiny, shiny, shiny!” after her cue,” Bailey commented. Cody smiled. They were finally having a conversation.

“Hey, we didn’t have the budget for a moon prop! We found that costume in the drama closet and I found a random way to add it into the script,” Cody explained. “But listen, I was wrong. I got so mad on the Eiffel Tower, that I just couldn’t listen to anything you said. I just… I love you so much, Bailey. It blinds me to everything that isn’t you.”

Bailey giggled. “Aw, Cody…” She opened her door a little wider, then chuckled. “Wait, why are you still wearing my dress?”

Cody stood up and brushed off the skirt, glad to get off the hallway floor. “Oh. Right. Um, I just raced here after the show because I needed to talk to you,” she lied. Bailey closed the door behind her, and they made their ways to the separate beds.

“Well, I’m glad you did. I think I would’ve spent the night crying if not for the way you look in that,” Bailey laughed again. Cody wass starting to grow uncomfortable again, so she decided to just fortify. She took a deep breath.

“Actually, about that… I mean, you said I looked nice in it, right?” Cody nervously laughed.

“No, I said that you would want to talk about it,” Bailey quickly covered.

_ Just do it. Just get it over with, and then if she never wants to see you again… well, at least you were honest. _

“Bailey?” She asked meekly.

“Yeah, Cody? W-what’s wrong?”

“I, uh, I’m still wearing this dress, uh, because I like it,” Cody finally blurted. Bailey smiled.

“I mean, it’s a pretty dress, what’s not to like? I just don’t think it was really made for boys,” she laughed. Cody’s chest decided this was the perfect time to start constricting.

“No, Bailey, I don’t just like this dress. I like… I like wearing dresses. And I know they’re not really made for boys, but uh… I don’t really feel like a boy?” Cody took a deep breath after her confession and braced for impact.

It was silent for a moment as Bailey processed what she heard. But suddenly, Cody felt a warm pair of arms encircling her chest. As if the warmth was a knife, Cody felt the constriction start to melt off. Bailey nuzzled her cheek into Cody’s back, and suddenly everything was okay again.

“That’s okay, babe.”  _ Babe?! _ Cody’s brain marveled. “Do you feel like a girl, then?” She simply nodded in response, and the arms pulled her tighter.

Eventually, the embrace had to end (unfortunately), and Bailey gently turned Cody around to face her. What was on Bailey’s face was something completely unexpected: a smile.

“D-does the babe thing mean I don’t have to write a new six-month plan?” Bailey giggled again and kissed Cody’s cheek.

“You know I like girls, too, right? Plus, this gives me a great chance to make London hate my clothes on a completely different person! And…”

As Bailey trailed on, Cody smiled. This night was a complete parallel to that awful one in Paris… and yet, it was just as life-changing.


End file.
